Is it financially possible?

[phorvath]

It's been awhile since I was here last. I've been doing a lot of thinking. Here I am aged 67 and planning on retirement at 70. I just don't know if I will be physically up to building by myself. I actually went off and looked at companies that sell pre-assembled homes that they knock down and then reassemble at your building site. These are not kits in that they send a crew to that spends 3 days reassembling the cabin on site.
Their log cabin prices looked good. For example, one sold for around $27,000 and was under 1000 square feet. But then a three man crew is needed plus a crane and an operator. God know what that would cost. I learned that construction costs are $150 - $300 per square foot. So add that to the price for the cabin and the land and the total is out of sight.
So is it really possible to get help after I take the class? I know people are interested in gaining experience. I would reciprocate and travel to their building site. Is it possible to get it all done in about 3 months?
I like what I see in Idaho. Anybody else building there? It would be great to hear from you. My nightmare at this point is me peeling logs all by my lonesome somewhere out in the wilderness and eventually giving up.
My other alternative would be to fix up an existing home (preferably log). In my case, I will need a land/construction loan but can, I think, put about 20% down.
Still trying to keep the dream alive.
Phil

[rckclmbr428]

Cheap, fast, or good. You only get to pick two.

[project]

I don't think doing it in 3 months is a realistic goal. I'm not saying it couldn't be done but you would definitely have to hire some experienced help. Getting other members to help you with some portions of it is possible and happens quite often but most of the work would be done by you unless you hire help. I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, just being honest.

[loghousenut]

I'm only 61 and lazy. Mine is well over half done and I think I'd have an apoplexy if someone suddenly said I only had 3 months to get it done. Phil, you and I are getting to that stage in life where we oughta be capitalizing on doing things we really want to do. If you really want to build a log home in 3 months I suppose you oughta go at it, but it sure sounds like torture to me.

The only way I can get my old bones to do the things that get a house built, is to love the process and not care when (if ever) it gets done. There is help out there and it can really be a boost, but we are all just like you... people with lives and distance to travel. I wish you could be on the member's side so you could read about our recent 1 week roof work party. Got a ton done and boosted the Boss and I into 61 year old overdrive. That's not the kind of thing that builds the house. It builds relationships and it gets a person through a tight spot in the build but there will always be so much more that need to be done. Trust me, you couldn't afford to have one work party every month, even if you could find the volunteers.

If you want to build your own log home with your own hands, this is the most foolproof way to do it. If you want to get into that retirement Vila before the grim reaper take notice of your raspy cough, well I don't know.

You wouldn't know it by reading this, but I am inclined to want to inspire you, not dump sewage on the birthday cake.

If the question is whether to have a kit home built, I'd always poopoo that one. If you really hanker for a kit house, go after the secondary market. There are plenty of them out there and they are ready for repair right now... no waiting.





That last line was meant to be kinda funny but I really mean that if there are problems with a certain design, you might be able to pick them out and plan for it if the house was already a few years old. If you build a kit home from scratch, you will learn gradually about any design flaws.

[rreidnauer]

3 months to peel your logs? Yea, that is probably about right. Sounds like you should be talking to Rckclmbr.

[rawson]

My other alternative would be to fix up an existing home (preferably log). In my case, I will need a land/construction loan but can, I think, put about 20% down.
Still trying to keep the dream alive.
Phil[/QUOTE]

There is a member built log home for sale in the Curlew, WA area. WA seems to have better appeal for retirees than ID.

[allen84]

I believe people who are successful at ANYTHING set a lofty goal first... Falling short of the goal doesn't have to result in failure. You can fall short and still succeed in the end.

Some of my favorite quotes...
"If you put your mind to it you can do anything."
"Don't talk about it, be about it."
"If at first you don't succeed. Try, try again."
"If it was easy, everyone would do it."


So... Can it be done? I'm sure it could. Can you do it? That's up to you and your determination.

One other thing... From a man that's tired of "fixing" EVERYTHING HE OWNS, It's hard to beat something nice and new that's made right.

[Steve Vaughan]

I am 56 and in decent shape for a guy with a bunch of replacement parts. I have two artificial shoulders. Sixteen months ago I started building two 30x30's at once. I have one totally done. It is pretty cool. Mine is about 75%. My question to you is how bad do you want it? Bad enough to rent a telehandler, hire a few young backs, spend some money on tools that will multiply your power, yeah if you want it that bad, it can happen.

[Plumb Level]

Well said Steve.

At the start of my cabin, I was going with cheap and good. I'm transitioning to fast and good.

[LaurenW]

What are people doing to acquire land? Cash purchases? I'm pretty sure it says that it is covered in the course, which I have yet to attend.. but I'm out in eastern PA, and being able to even get our hands on a decent sized piece of land about seems just about impossible with no one willing to lend to a 24 year old girl who is crazy enough to build a log cabin any money. Thoughts?